Thursday 17 January 2013

Stygia and Aquilon Mythology and Peoples.


Ok so here some fluff I worked on the other day to try and expand the Executioners some.  C&C's are more than welcome, and again please remember this is FICTION, it may borrow heavily from a culture, but it is still fiction about humans in the grim dark future on a binary world far away!


On the Imperium's fringes along the desolate void wastes to the galactic south-south-west can be found the binary worlds of Stygia and Aquilon, the infamous worlds of ice and fire.  Locked in orbit with each other they trace an elliptical around their slowly dying sun.

Aquilon is the larger of the two twin planets, and supports all manner of life on its rich volcanic soils, while Stygia is a frozen tundra devoid of plant life and inhabited by dangerous predators.

Aquilon while verdant and full of life, is unable to support human life due to the constant volcanic activity and chemical make up of its water supply.  The water while drinkable releases a noxious gas when boiled.  This gas builds up in the atmosphere over night, only to ignite in the upper atmosphere each morning, creating the illusion that the planet itself burns.

The Stygian people believe that in the long distant past they all lived on Aquilon, a life of ease and luxury.  The sun was  praised each morning, but the moon was teased and large fires were lit to keep the dark away.  This made the moon jealous, for it was stuck on the frozen world, never looked upon.  One day in a great flash of light that blocked out the sun, the moon sent an emissary to Aquilon.  The Emissary took the form of a large dog walking on its hind legs in a mockery of the Aquilon people.  He told them that the moon wanted to apologise for the darkness in the night and invited them to a banquet.  All accepted this offer, and went with the emissary.

However the moon had tricked them, upon arriving on Stygia, the Aquilons were set upon by Topilaq, and forced to fight for their very lives the weak died quickly, but small groups managed to break free from the trap and became the first of the tribes.  Now each night they look up into the sky and see their bright fiery world, promising warmth and an easier life, but they can only go back strong and wise, for defeating the moon in battle is the only way they can reclaim their world.

The sun saw what had happened and vowed to support the Aquilons.  As such after each dark cold night on Stygia he still rises and gives them what heat he can.  He taught them to make fire in a land without wood, and promised that the worthy would be taught by his warriors to retake Aquilon.

The Stygian people are fractured and divided into tribes, forced to eke out an existence on the vast frozen tundras.  With food and shelter hard to come by, war between the tribes is common.  However the Stygians see this as a chance to prove themselves as warriors and emulate the great white Ursus that share the tundra with them.

The Stygian have many folk tales featuring the Ursus including legends in which Ursus were humans long ago like them and they too were tricked into life on Stgyia.  These legends reveal a deep respect for the Ursus, which is portrayed as both spiritually powerful and closely akin to humans. The human-like posture of Ursus when standing and sitting, and the resemblance of a skinned Ursus carcass to the human body, have probably contributed to the belief that the spirits of humans and Ursus were interchangeable. Stygian legends tell of humans learning to hunt from the first Ursus, Nanook.

This does not mean that the hunting of the Ursus was forbidden, far from it, for to deny a food source on the tundra would be foolish.  There was however a longstanding shamanistic ritual to the hunted Ursus. After killing the animal, its head and skin were removed and cleaned and brought into the home, a feast was held in the hunting camp in its honour. In order to appease the spirit of the Ursus, there were traditional song and drum music and the skull would be ceremonially fed and offered a pipe. Only once the spirit was appeased would the skull be separated from the skin, taken beyond the bounds of the homestead, and placed in the ground, facing north to scare away the evil Topilaq.

The Topilaq resembled large wild dogs.  Individually not large enough to challenge an Ursus but in numbers they are a far more frightening prospect.  They stalk the wilds day and night watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike, never seen except out of the corner of an eye.  When they do attack it is always in the middle of a terrible storm, striking fast and from every direction.  Most parents teach their children to behave with the threat of Topilaq snatching them at night if they misbehave.

The Shamans of each tribe were referred to as Death-Speakers.  It was these Death-Speakers that conducted important ceremonies and acted as ambassadors between tribes.  The most important task of the Death-Speaker however was to judge ones worth upon their death, and decide wether they should be allowed to soar to Aquilon or be thrown to the wild dogs of the far north.  As such after a particularly successful hunt or tribe war, Stygian warriors would take a trophy off of their victims and place it by the entrance to their hide tents, or worn upon their clothes.

Upon a warriors death, the are taken to a sacred, sheltered ice canyon far to the north, known as Nanooks Trail.  The route to to the canyon, and the entrance itself is marked out by large Inuksuk.  Inuksuk are stone cairn structures, made to resemble a man or Ursus standing with arms spread. Before the journey the tribe places each of the dead on a crude sleigh made of bone and animal hides, they then pile the trophies that warrior has taken in its life on top.  Upon arriving at the entrance to Nanooks Trail the tribes Death- Speaker raises his arms to the sky and asks Nanooks permission to enter, before choosing the strongest of the remaining warriors to drag their fallen tribe mates deep within the canyon.

For anyone apart from a Death-Speaker to talk once in the canyon is to invite the Topilaq to enter ones body.  Deep within the canyon is the largest Inuksuk, depicting Nanook himself.  Here the Death-Speaker presents each fallen warrior, and tells Nanook of the great deeds that each warrior has accomplished and the stories behind each of the trophies, if Nanook was pleased with the warrior, his sleigh and trophies were set alight so that the Warriors soul could soar high in the flames and reach Aquilon.  There they would fight the Trickster moon, and each morning beat back the darkness with flame.  If the Death-Speaker had no story to tell or if the story was one of deceit or treachery, then the body was dumped on the ground and left for the Topilaq to take.   Their sleighs and any trophies they had were then burnt, releasing the souls of these animals to escape and continue their life.

It is this belief of all creatures having souls, that has led certain tribes to associate with certain animals on the planet.  The chieftain may see in the eyes of a massive oceanic Narthulu, the spark that he saw in his father eyes, and may take it as a sign that his father is watching from Aquilon and has sent part of his soul back to Stygia to protect and guide the tribe.



The Space Marines of the Executioners chapter, saw amongst the Stygian people a fierce determined and prideful people, who would make excellent neophytes.  When the Executioners first teleported to the planets surface it was in the midst of one of the worst storms in Stygian living memory.  The displacement of air created an eye to the storm and for a mile in all directions the storm was quiet and still.  The bright flash of their teleport attracted a large group of Topilaq who immediately attacked the small band of Space Marines.  The Topilaq are not the only ones who witnessed the teleportation flare.  Several tribes also saw it and made their way to the source.  Upon arriving at the teleportation site, the collected tribes saw men half the size of a full grown Ursus, spitting fire from their weapons and slaughtering the Topilaq.  In an unprecedented event, the Death-Speakers of the tribes came together and spoke in hushed tones.

The last of Topilaq faltered in their attack and they slunk back off into the raging storm.  As the Executioners reassessed their situation the Death-Speakers moved forward and together lifted the corpse of the largest Topilaq and on their knees presented it to the Astartes.  When a skull helmed Chaplain took the beast off them and in one gauntleted hand raised it above his head the assembled tribes cheered.  To the Stygian people these were the warriors of the sun, with fire in their weapons and the strength of Nanook in their hands!

The Chaplain spent a long time talking to the Death-Speakers who had presented him the trophy.  He bade them to go to their tribes and unite those who had gathered together under one banner.  Then they were to head across the tundra and tell the other tribes of what they saw, and bring them into the fold.

The tribes did unite but it was not an easy peace, old habits and hard fought battles were difficult to forget.  As such disputes were common and often ended up with entire tribes fighting and would only end with the intervention of the Space Marines.  Rather than discourage this rivalry the Chaplains of the Executioners, laid down rules and traditions to be enforced by the Death-Speakers.  On a perceived slight the aggrieved party would take the matter to a Death-Speaker, who would act as judge and jury.  If deemed appropriate the Death-Speaker would order a trial by combat.  Death or maiming (which on the harsh world of Stygia was the same thing) were the only ways it could end.  Any outside interference was met with banishment from the protection of the United tribe.

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